Charles C. B. Seymour Memorial Concert

Event Information

Venue(s):
Steinway Hall

Conductor(s):
Theodore Thomas [see also Thomas Orchestra]

Price: Matinee: $1; no reserves. Evening: $2 reserved; $1

Record Information

Status:
Published

Last Updated:
1 November 2019

Performance Date(s) and Time(s)

12 Jun 1869, 1:00 PM
12 Jun 1869, 8:00 PM

Program Details

Charles C. B. Seymour was music critic for the New York Times who recently passed away.

The “music committee” for the event included Theodore Thomas, L. F. Harrison, and A. H. Wood.

The New York Tribune review of 06/14/68 summarizes the following last-minute changes to the performance: “As the programmes embraced nearly all our best artists, and some of them had to be brought from a distance, it was natural that there should be a few disappointments, but there were not many. Mrs. States did not appear, Mr. George Simpson appeared in the morning, but not in the evening, and Ole Bull was unexpectedly detained in Baltimore; but Carl Rosa came forward to fill as much as he could of the gap, and Madame Rose Bell had been added to the list of performers at the last moment, so there certainly was enough attraction remaining even after all deductions had been made.” The New York Post review of 06/14/69 also reports the absence of William Castle at both performances.

Some performers were listed in advertisements, but no mention of them is made in the official program or in reviews (these are J.B. Bowler, J.E. Perring, Edward Seguin, G.F. Hall, Carl Anschutz, F. Bergner, Carl Bergmann, and Edward Hoffman). For that reason, they are not listed here.

Music in Gotham provides the program as it was listed in the New York Times advertisement the day of the performance; the “intermission” indicates the conclusion of the matinee program and the beginning of the evening program. The announcements and reviews offer conflicting reports of different pieces that may or may not have been performed besides those included in this list.

Performers and/or Works Performed

2)
aka March funebre; Sulle Morte d’un Erol; Eroica
Composer(s): Beethoven
Participants:  Thomas Orchestra
3)
aka Thou everywhere; When in the dark midnight; Uberall Du
Composer(s): Lachner
Participants:  John Rogers Thomas
4)
Composer(s): Sanderson
Participants:  Harry Sanderson
5)
Composer(s): Bellini
Participants:  Clara Louise Kellogg
6)
aka Air Hongroise
Composer(s): Levy
Participants:  Jules [cornet] Levy
8)
aka Freischutz overture
Composer(s): Weber
Participants:  Thomas Orchestra
9)
Composer(s): Wallace
Participants:  George Simpson
10)
aka Tiorja, La
Composer(s): Bevignani
Participants:  Clara Louise Kellogg
11)
Composer(s): Levy
Participants:  Jules [cornet] Levy
12)
aka Vepres; Vespri siciliani; Sicilian vespers, The; Bolero; Siciliana; Sicilienne; Pity, beloved ladies; Merce dilette Amiche
Composer(s): Verdi
Participants:  Agatha [soprano] States
13)
aka Old guard polka
Composer(s): Sanderson
Participants:  Harry Sanderson
14)
Composer(s): Wallace
15)
Composer(s): Cooke
18)
Composer(s): Molloy
Participants:  Sherwood C. Campbell
20)
aka Mother's prayer; Preghiera d'una madre
Composer(s): Bull
Participants:  Ole Bull
21)
aka In native worth; Schopfung. Mit Wurd und Hoheit angetan
Composer(s): Haydn
Text Author: Swieten
Participants:  H. [tenor] Nordblom
22)
aka Mendelssohn's Wedding march; Fantasie on Midsummer night's dream
Composer(s): Liszt
Participants:  Sebastian Bach Mills
23)
aka Polonaise
Composer(s): Thomas
Participants:  Rose Bell
24)
aka We'd better hide a wee
Composer(s): Barnard
Participants:  Zelda Harrison
26)
Composer(s): Wood
Participants:  William Castle
27)
Composer(s): Mills
Participants:  Sebastian Bach Mills
28)
Composer(s): Semet
Participants:  Rose Bell
29)
Composer(s): Benedict
Participants:  George Washbourne Morgan
30)
Composer(s): Ganz
Participants:  Euphrosyne Parepa

Citations

1)
Advertisement: New-York Times, 29 May 1869, 7.

Advertises concert and notes preparatory meeting for that evening at 5pm. Lists “Active Committee” members.

2)
Advertisement: New York Herald, 01 June 1869, 12.
3)
Announcement: New-York Daily Tribune, 01 June 1869.

“The requisite preliminary arrangements for the Seymour Memorial Concert have been completed. The concert will be given at Steinway Hall, on Saturday of next week, the 12th of June. Tickets are for sale at the Hall, and also at Wallack’s Theater. Two performances are to be given—one in the afternoon and one in the evening. Numerous musicians, including the most distinguished and popular artists on the lyric stage, have proffered their professional services. A various and attractive programme has been arranged, and every indication promises that the memorial will be worthy of the occasion. Further particulars in reference to the concert will shortly be published. Mr. William Steinway, Mr. Henry J. Raymond, Mr. William Stuart, Mr. L. F. Harrison, Mr. Theodore Hagen, Mr. Joseph Howard, and Mr. Theodore Moss have the direction of the incidents business.”

4)
Announcement: New York Post, 02 June 1869.

"Following the successful precedent of the Brougham testimonial, the entertainment for the benefit of the family of the late Mr. C. C. B. Seymour will consist both of a matinée and an evening performance, to take place at Steinway Hall on the afternoon and evening of Saturday, the 12th instant. In this way only could the services of the numerous artists who have volunteered be made available. The programme will be in every way interesting and attractive, and the occasion promises to be a marked pecuniary success.”

5)
Advertisement: New-York Times, 05 June 1869, 7.
6)
Advertisement: New York Herald, 07 June 1869, 12.
7)
Advertisement: New-York Daily Tribune, 07 June 1869, 7.
8)
Announcement: New York Post, 07 June 1869.

“The Seymour Memorial Concert will take place next Saturday afternoon and evening at Steinway Hall. Kellogg, Parepa, Irma, Rose Bell, McCullough, Testa and States lead off in the long list of artists who have volunteered their services.”

9)
Announcement: New-York Times, 08 June 1869, 5.

“Tickets for these entertainments are now for sale at Steinway Hall, at Wallack’s Theatre, and at Schirmer’s music store, No. 701 Broadway. The price of admission is extremely modest—$1 to all parts of the hall, excepting reserved seats, for which, in the evening, $2 will be charged. We again call attention to the brilliant collection of names which lend distinction to this occasion. According to present arrangements Miss Clara Louise Kellogg will sing at the afternoon concert, and Mme. Parepa-Rosa will appear in the evening.”

10)
Announcement: New-York Daily Tribune, 08 June 1869, 4.

The long array of names of popular artists who have offered their services for the Seymour memorial next Saturday will probably be quite enough to insure its full attendance at Steinway Hall both afternoon and evening. There is money in nearly all those names, as well as promise of good music. All the principal branches of the profession send their foremost representatives. Parepa, the queen of the concert room; Kellogg, the pet of the Academy; Irma and Rose-Bell, the pretty princess of opera bouffe; Ole Bull, king of violinists; G. W. Morgan, the great organ virtuoso; S. B. Mills, the exquisite pianist; Levy with his magic trumpet; a whole troupe of English opera singers; Theodore Thomas, Bergmann, Edward Hoffman, Madame Testa;—all the best known vocal and instrumental performers whose merits Mr. Seymour’s keen but kindly pen so often discussed,—will take part in this testimonial of respect for his professional ability and personal worth. It is only once or twice in a decade of years that we can expect to hear so many fine artists together, and nothing but an occasion which appealed very strongly to their personal feelings could have brought them into combination. This memorial day is one, however, in which we hope the public will take even a deeper interest than the musical profession, for it is the public who were most indebted to Mr. Seymour during his life, and have lost most by his death. Making no parade of superior knowledge, though he possessed it; tolerant in the expression of individual opinion, though his taste was decided and severe; hating humbug like a cynic, but exposing it with the good humor of a laughing philosopher, he was the most efficient of guides, because he never seemed to be guiding. He charmed readers equally by the pleasant grace of his style and the evident justice and intelligence of his judgment. He never made an angry attack, but he knew how to pierce falsehood and pretension with a sharp, deep stab from his polished steel, so gaily and so cleanly dealt that the victims hardly knew they were assaulted until they found themselves dying. Mr. Seymour, above all, was an absolutely incorruptible critic. We mean not only that he was not to be bought with money—that could be said, we trust, of nearly all his brethren—but he was equally unmoved by flattery and social blandishments. His loss at such a time as this, when folly and indecency threaten to deluge the entire American stage, and we need all the strong, fearless, and honest writers we can command to point out the danger and suggest the remedy, is especially calamitous. We hope next Saturday will be made the occasion of an imposing public testimonial to his worth: it will be a good way of encouraging his survivors to emulate his example.”

11)
Announcement: New-York Times, 09 June 1869, 5.

“So far as the programmes for these entertainments have been arranged, they present an unusual amount of varied attraction. In the afternoon concert, Miss Kellogg will sing, for the first time in this country, the celebrated scene from Ambrois Thomas’ ‘Hamlet,’ which in the original, occupies nearly the whole of the fourth act, and which is unquestionably the most striking and characteristic selection that could have been made from this opera. Mme. Testa will sing the ‘Salutaris,’ from Rossini’s Mass, and Messrs. Levy and Sanderson will perform. The funeral march from Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Symphony will be played by Mr. Theodore Thomas’ orchestra. The principal names upon the evening programme are those of Mme. Parepa-Rosa, Mlle. Tostee, Messrs. Ole Bull, Mills, Levy, Castle, Campbell, Seguin and Morgan. A long list of other distinguished artists is also announced for each performance.”

12)
Announcement: New-York Times, 10 June 1869, 5.

"Tickets are rapidly selling for these interesting entertainments, and the audiences promise to be among the largest of the season. The programme, which is now completed, represents a larger congregation of artistic talent and a greater variety of attraction than has been assembled upon any other occasion within many years. As already announced, Miss Kellogg and Mme. Testa will sing in the afternoon, and Mesdames Parepa-Rosa and Rose-Bell in the evening. For a full list of the other distinguished ladies and gentlemen who have volunteered and will take part in the performances, we refer to the advertisement in another column.”

13)
Review: New York Herald, 12 June 1869, 10.

“The memorial matinee and evening concert given at Steinway Hall yesterday for the benefit of the widow and child of the late Charles C. B. Seymour were as successful, both artistically and pecuniarily, as the most devoted friend of the lamented critic could desire. Crowded houses on both occasions welcomed the most brilliant assemblage of musical talent that has perhaps ever congregated in this city. There were but two disappointments—Mrs. States and Ole Bull. Mme. Testa and Miss Kellogg were the stars of the matinée, the former by her exquisite rendering of the O Salutaris from Rossini’s mass, and the latter by her birdlike interpretation of the grand scena and rondo finale from ‘Sonnambula.’ Mme. Rosa, Mme. Rose-Bell and Mrs. Seguin were the featuers of the evening performance. A dozen gentlemen of the most eminent ability assisted at both performances. Mme. Bell sang the celebrated polonaise from ‘Mignon,’ Mme. Rosa the ‘Ave Maria’ by Gounod and Mrs. Seguin one of Claribel’s songs. It was, in all, a touching and well deserved tribute to one of thekindest, most honorable and high minded gentlemen who ever graced the journalistic profession in the metropolis.”

14)
Advertisement: New-York Times, 12 June 1869, 7.

First advertisement to provide the program for both performances in full.

15)
Announcement: New York Clipper, 12 June 1869, 78.

"The Seymour Memorial Concert takes place at Steinway Hall on June 12th, when some of the most brilliant lights in the operatic and concert world will appear.”

16)
Review: New-York Times, 14 June 1869, 4.

We are happy to state that the success of these entertainments was complete and perfect in every way that could have been desired. Steinway Hall was filled on Saturday afternoon and evening with audiences which ranked in numbers among the largest of the season, and in appreciation and good-will among the most enthusiastic. The performances of the remarkable congregation of artists were listened to with the interest and applauded with the cordiality which they deserved. A worthier testimony to the memory of the late Mr. Seymour, both on the part of the ladies and gentlemen who volunteered their assistance and of the mvsical [sic] public, could not have been afforded.”

17)
Review: New-York Daily Tribune, 14 June 1869, 5.

“The two performances given on Saturday of the late Mr. Seymour were thoroughly successful in all points of view, and resulted in the creations of a considerable fund for the benefit of the family of the deceased. At the matinee there was a large and brilliant audience, and in the evening the hall was crowded. As the programmes embraced nearly all our best artists, and some of them had to be brought from a distance, it was natural that there should be a few disappointments, but there were not many. Mrs. States did not appear, Mr. George Simpson appeared in the morning, but not in the evening, and Ole Bull was unexpectedly detained in Baltimore; but Carl Rosa came forward to fill as much as he could of the gap, and Madame Rose Bell had been added to the list of performers at the last moment, so there certainly was enough attraction remaining even after all deductions had been made. The star of the morning was Miss Kellogg, the start of the evening Madame Parepa Rosa. Both ladies, of course, satisfied the expectations of their many admirers. With the former appeared Theodore Thomas and his orchestra, Harry Sanderson, Mr. J. Levy, Mr. J. R. Thomas, and Madame Testa. With the latter were Nr. [sic] G. W. Morgan, Mr. S. B. Mills, Mr. Carl Rosa, Mr. Nordblom, Mrs. Zelda Harrison Seguin, Madame Rose Bell who sang the well known polonaise from Ambroise Thomas’s ‘Mignon,’ and a serenade from Semet’s ‘Gil Blas,’ Mr. S. C. Campbell, Mr. G. W. Colby, and Mr. Levy, who accompanied with his cornet Madame Rosa’s ‘Let the Bright Seraphim.’ Criticism on such an occasion would be out of place, but we cannot omit a word of enthusiastic praise for Mrs. Seguin’s charming and pathetic ballad singing, and the superb performance of Gounod’s ‘Ave Maria’ by Madame Parepa Rosa, Mr. Carl Rosa playing the violin obligato, Mr. S. B. Mills the piano, and Mr. G. W. Morgan the organ.”

18)
Review: New York Post, 14 June 1869.

“The Seymour concerts on Saturday afternoon and evening were well attended, and the pecuniary result was highly gratifying. With the exception of Ole Bull, Mr. Castle and Mrs. States, all the artists announced were present, and did their share towards interpreting a very interesting programme. Miss Kellogg and Madame Parepa were the most brilliant stars; but Mrs. Zelda Seguin also gave special satisfaction by her singing of ‘Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep,’ in which her low notes were very effective.”

19)
Review: New-York Daily Tribune, 17 June 1869, 4.

Brief. “The Seymour Benefit is said to have yielded upward of $2,000 for the widow of the much lamented journalist.”

20)
Announcement: New-York Daily Tribune, 22 June 1869, 5.

“Madame Janauschek contributed $100 to the Seymour Memorial Fund.”

21)
Announcement: New York Clipper, 26 June 1869, 94.

Brief. “The Seymour Memorial Concert is said to have realized $2,000 for the widow.”

22)
Review: New York Musical Gazette, July 1869, 69.

“There have been rather more than the usual number of testimonial concerts this season, but none have even approached the two given in the afternoon and evening of the 12th ult., for the benefit of the family of the late Mr. C.C.B. Seymour, the talented, gentlemanly, and generous music and dramatic editor of the New York Times. These concerts took place in Steinway Hall, and were sustained by our most able and distinguished artists, among whom were numbered such stars as Miss Kellogg and Madame Parepa Rosa. Rarely does occasion allow one to hear such a variety and perfection of talent. The success of these concerts, in every particular, was a great gratification to the host of Mr. Seymour’s friends, and resulted in a net profit of over $8000.”